All right, I better just write down whatever on my mind since I am just too busy to make this perfect right now and the longer I wait the less likely I will finish it.
We went for a round of routine check on Thursday afternoon, non-stress testing, ultra-sound, and a routine doctor's visit. The first two was scheduled because the baby has been on the small side and the doctor wanted to make sure everything is ok. Other than the small size, the baby actually was pretty good: all the other tests come back normal; she turned as early as we can remember seeing her clearly in the ultrasound; and she was always very low, getting ready to come out.
During the non-stress test, the baby didn't move for half an-hour before she became active. Even though everything looked all right once she was active, the ultra-sound check after that showed Renee's size percentile dropped from last month' 25% to 7% (first measurement was 5%).
When these two put together, the nurse called doctor right away, who instructed us to go downstairs and check us into the hospital right away and prepare for induced labor.
Even though we more or less expected this, it was still quite upsetting, especially to the mom. Fortunately, we had a doctor's appointment right after this. We went to the doctor's office instead. After she checked the baby and talked to us about the situation and risks, it was clear that an induced labor is the right thing to do because it is a lot easier to monitor and take care of the small baby once she is out.
We went home and grabbed out things, threw the car-seat that I haven't got a chance to install to the back seat, and checked ourselves into the hospital.
Lianxin scored A+ on the test of her reaction to the medicine used for induced labor (oxi- something), so it won't be a cesarean birth. We were all quite please to hear that.
Through out the night, the nurse came in twice and give the mom something to prepare her body. In the morning, she was given the medicine through IV again to start the labor. Her body reacted to the medicine so strongly that the contractions came one after another without any break. We decided to use Epidural to ease the pain, and the next nurse, who we think were much more experienced, turned the medicine off to see if her body can take over.
And it did. By the time that the medicine was turned off, we were told that the process has just started (1cm). When the nurse checked an hour later, we were told that we have a long day ahead of us and all we could do was to wait for the nature to take its course. Two hours later, the nurse dropped by again only to find out that she could even see the baby's head! The mother was fully ready!
The nurse called the doctor, who came right away. Half an hour later, the pushing starts (the baby's head was even further out by then, I thought she had lots of hair). A little over 10 minutes later we had a new-born baby crying in our hand.
I was there the whole time. Instead of fainting or throwing up, I watched with excitement and even got to cut the cord. Then I went out immediately to tell the grandparents who are waiting anxiously in the waiting room that their daughter and granddaughter are both fine.
Renee was a bit small, so a pediatrician was called in to make sure that she was not premature. After he declared that the baby was fine, the nurse took some tests and measurement. In the meantime, the doctor took care of the mother some more (she had a tear).
Soon, the mother and the baby are united, and I brought in the grandparents.
And the parenting lifehood begins.
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